Category Archives: #NationalPoetryMonth

#NationalPoetryMonth 6/30

Everytime you pick the spot for a be-in
a demonstration, a march, a rally, you are choosing
the ground for a potential battle.
You are still calling these shots.
Pick your terrain with that in mind.

from “REVOLUTIONARY LETTER #8”

Today’s read: Revolutionary Letters by Diane di Prima – City Lights Books – 1974

I am sure that Barb found this copy in a used book store or library sale. It is a pristine first edition complete with a Review Copy from City Lights’s old publishing house address.

Like reading Roque Dalton, these poems have a whole new meaning in this time of pandemic. I am reading through these instructions to survive and organize in crisis and feel that these are not metaphors or allegory. What do you do when the government is neglecting you while simultaneously lying to you. You rally and you make a choice for yourself on what you will fight for.

#NationalPoetryMonth Day 5/30

Everyday is a reenactment of the creation story. We emerge from
dense unspeakable material, through the shimmering power of dreaming stuff.


This is the first world, and the last.

from “A Postcolonial Tale”

Today’s read: The Woman Who Fell from the Sky: Poems by Joy Harjo – Norton – 1996

I first read this collection about sixteen years ago when I was all about the poetry life. I remember liking the work but not enjoying the prose commentary that followed the work. Now, I am loving this work even more and am thankful for the narratives that outline the origins of these poems. Tastes change and evolve. There is an old saying that you can’t cross the same river twice and I see that in visiting this poetry collection again.

#NationalPoetryMonth 4/30

Today’s read: Poems by Roque Dalton (Translated by Richard Schaaf) – Curbstone Press – 1984

It’s cliche but my favorite line was definitely “poetry is, like bread, for everyone.” Re-reading these poems in the time of both the 45th President and during the pandemic gives me a new perspective on this line. Is poetry for everyone? I always assumed Yes but in a society with empty shelves and not enough medical equipment then you have to wonder.

Another unexpected find was the introductory epistle. Poetry has been a bridge to so many places for me and I have always been grateful. This poem makes me wonder how I can articulate that gratitude.

Poems by Roque Dalton

#NationalPoetryMonth 2/30

child, i tell you now it was not
the animal blood i was hiding from,
it was the poet in her, the poet and
the terrible stories she could tell.

from “telling our stories”

Today’s read: Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems, 1988-2000 by Lucille Clifton

The best day of hiking yet. We only encountered five people total and they were all courteous and respectful of social distancing.

At the end of the hike, we heard some intense yelling. I immediately thought we would run into a group of tech hipsters who had traded in their open work spaces and coffee shop hangouts for the open trails. As we got closer it was clear that the shouting was religious chant. In the back of a hill, a woman was hollering “Señor Dios. ¡Señor Dios!” in rhythmic and desperate chants. Another woman was witness.

Barb asked me if I could make out any of the Spanish. I only had one word, Suplicación. We walked by quickly to be sure not to disturb.

Thinking back, I was being reverent. But I was also scared and hiding. She was the woman Clifton wrote of. Her voice was filled with “animal blood.” I am sure her reason to be calling to her Lord must be both wondrous and terrible.